EDITORIAL
The Journal of Bacteriology (JB) is the flagship journal of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). Indeed, many of the other current ASM journals are direct spin-offs of JB. In my opinion it is the most important journal in the fields of microbiology that fall within its scope. I have scanned the table of contents of every issue of JB published since I was a graduate student, and it is rare that I do not find something of direct interest to ongoing research in my lab or to the graduate level course I teach on prokaryotic molecular biology. I have published more than 80 papers in JB, and I count several as among my most important contributions. Indeed, what I think is the best of these was first rejected by multiple “high-profile” journals.
As a consequence of the high regard I have for JB, I have willingly been deeply involved in journal operations for the better part of my independent scientific life. I was recruited by Graham Walker, then editor in chief (EIC), to replace Susan Gottesman as an editor beginning on 1 January 1999, although as I recall, I started unofficially a few months before that. Since you cannot serve more than two consecutive 5-year terms, I retired briefly and then was recruited to rejoin as an editor by then-EIC Phil Matsumura on 1 July 2009. Two years later, the Publications Board chair, Tom Shenk, recruited me to replace Phil as EIC, and my second and final term as EIC will end this June.
Things have changed dramatically during my years with the journal. In the early years, everything was done on paper. I would return from a trip to find on my desk stacks of green and white envelopes containing new submissions, review reports, and revised manuscripts, each of which had to be opened, dealt with, and then properly filed in the cabinets that lined the hallways outside my office. Now everything is done online and past methods no doubt seem antiquated, if not incomprehensible, to the young scientists of today. The good news is that the process has improved considerably. The time to first decision has been drastically cut as noted below.
Without a doubt, my biggest challenge as EIC has been trying to deal with declining submissions. I would like to think that this decline was not because of something I did, or did not do, as EIC. There is no simple explanation, but I suggest a major factor is the rise of a plethora of for-profit journals that have a cachet that outshines the more seemingly sedate nature of many society journals such as JB. Scientific publishers have created a set of family-related publications ranked in descending order that hope to capture all submitted manuscripts at their perceived level of general interest and impact. The problem with this approach is that it puts too much power in the hands of too few, many of whom are not practicing scientists. It was better, I think, when society journals set a high standard for quality and let impact be judged by readers in time-dependent fashion. JB submissions have leveled off in the last couple of years, and I hope the bleeding has stopped.
I am most proud of the scientists who have served as editors during my years as EIC, many of whom I have recruited for service (Table 1). It is worth noting that I have had little trouble recruiting well-known and respected scientists to serve as editors. Like me, they hold JB in high regard and are happy to serve. I believe the JB editors are the best in the business.
TABLE 1.
Editors
| Name | Term period |
|---|---|
| Judith P. Armitage | 2005–2015 |
| Anke Becker | 2015–present |
| Yves V. Brun | 2017–present |
| Peter J. Christie | 2006–2016 |
| Laurie E. Comstock | 2019–present |
| Piet A. J. de Boer | 2007–2017 |
| Victor J. DiRita | 2009–2019 |
| Michael J. Federle | 2018–present |
| Michael Y. Galperin | 2018–present |
| Richard L. Gourse | 2007–2017 |
| Tina M. Henkin | 2014–present |
| Roberto Kolter | 1994–1999a |
| William Margolin | 2011–present |
| Philip Matsumura | 2011–2012 |
| William W. Metcalf | 2011–preset |
| Charles P. Moran | 2004–2014 |
| Conrad W. Mullineaux | 2015–present |
| George A. O’Toole | 2007–present |
| John S. Parkinson | 2005–2015 |
| Olaf Schneewind | 2010–2019 |
| Ann M. Stock | 2011–present |
| Igor B. Zhulin | 2008–2018 |
See text.
As cover editor, Roberto Kolter deserves special comment. During his 5-year term as a normal editor, he suggested cover images and his suggestions were accepted. He began doing this in October 1998, and he has been doing it ever since. He deserves special thanks for this effort, and I am forever grateful that I did not have to try and find his replacement!
Perhaps the highlight of my years as EIC was the 100th anniversary of JB in 2016. During that year we highlighted important papers that have been published in JB with a series of 48 Classic Spotlights, each written by an editor. These spotlights, which were brief summaries of papers that had lasting impact, were chosen from a list of about 120 solicited from our Editorial Board members. It is worth noting that the true significance of many of these papers was not realized until much later. Links to the entire collection of these spotlights may be found on the journal homepage, and I think they will be especially useful for students and teachers.
Although I have certainly enjoyed my years at JB, it is time for me to move on. In fact, I don’t think anyone should be head of anything for more than 10 years. Once you have the system running the way you want it you become resistant to change. The journal needs new leadership, new ideas, and renewed enthusiasm. I am happy to report that the search for a new EIC has already begun. A search committee has been formed, applications have been solicited, and it is my hope that the new EIC will be chosen by the time this editorial is published.
The new EIC will certainly face challenges; chief among them is open access. While I understand the virtues of making research articles available to all, I fear the unintended consequences. Open access will increase publication costs for investigators and their research grants, and it will decrease scientific society income by eliminating journal subscription revenue. I fear that this will force small labs to make difficult choices regarding publishing their research and decrease the many useful activities that societies currently do for the profession. Already several societies have partnered with for-profit publishers, foreshadowing changes ahead in the scientific publishing industry.
I want to thank the leadership and staff at ASM who have made my job as EIC as simple and as rewarding as possible. Tom Shenk (chair, Publications Board) and Barbara Goldman (director, Journals) showed me the ropes, listened to my ideas and encouraged me at every step. These leadership roles have been ably assumed by Pat Schloss (chair, Journals Committee) and Melissa Junior (director, Journals). On a day-to-day basis, the people I interact with are Heather Drought (editorial coordinator) and Rebecca Zwadyk (production editor). Other ASM staff who have fulfilled these roles in the past and other important staff members are listed in Table 2. Ethical issues do not come up often, but when they do Amy Kullas (ethics director) has been especially helpful. Last, but certainly not least, are my two Princeton assistants who have been with me for my entire JB journey, Susan DiRenzo and Jennifer Munko. Susan and Jen, together with Heather, Rebecca, and their predecessors, have made everything run as efficiently as possible.
TABLE 2.
ASM staff
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Rebecca Alvania | Assistant director, Journals |
| Stefano Bertuzzi | Chief executive officer |
| Alex Collery | Online journals specialist |
| Heather Drought | Editorial coordinator |
| Amber Esplin | Assistant production editora |
| Jessica Freeman | Editorial coordinatora |
| Barbara Goldman | Director, Journalsa |
| Jeff Herring | Assistant production editor |
| Melissa Junior | Director, Journals |
| Stefanie Kowalski | Production editora |
| Amy Kullas | Ethics director, ASM |
| Adar Luckey | Program and volunteer governance coordinator |
| Jennifer Owens | Production editora |
| Patrick Schloss | Chair, Journals Committee |
| Tom Shenk | Chair, Publications Boarda |
| Rebecca Zwadyk | Production editor |
Former position.
I want to take this opportunity to also thank the many people who have contributed to the success of the journal over the past year.
A large number (456) of ad hoc reviewers assisted our review process last year, demonstrating a high degree of community support for the journal. These scientists are listed in volume 202, issue 24, at https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.00513-20. These reviewers, together with the editors and Editorial Board members, provided high-quality reviews with an average time to first decision of 27 days.
A number of our Editorial Board members deserve special recognition. In the last year, these scientists have reviewed at least six manuscripts each with an average turnaround time of 17 days or less. Wholehearted thanks go to them all:
Andrew J. Darwin, NYU Langone Health
Marie A. Elliot, McMaster University
Joseph Lutkenhaus, University of Kansas Medical Center
Stephen Spiro, University of Texas at Dallas
Jörg Stülke, Georg-August University Göttingen
Karen L. Visick, Loyola University Chicago
Annegret Wilde, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Daniel J. Wozniak, Ohio State University
Timothy L. Yahr, University of Iowa
Peter Zuber, Oregon Health & Science University
This year, 9 new scientists were appointed to the Editorial Board to replace retiring members:
Francis Alonzo III, Loyola University Chicago
Gert Bange, Philipps University Marburg
Allison K. Criss, University of Virginia
Leendert W. Hamoen, University of Amsterdam
Jennifer K. Herman, Texas A&M University
Kelly Marie Hines, University of Georgia
Amanda G. Oglesby, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy
Christopher Rao, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kai M. Thormann, Justus Liebig University
Each of them brings special expertise to the journal, and speaking for all of the editors, I welcome them.
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal or of ASM.